Andy Crouch: Defending the Human Mind in an AI World

Do friction, struggle, and silence make you fully human?

AI can generate an answer, but it cannot suffer with you, worship, love a neighbor, or become wise. Host Curtis Chang and Andy Crouch, the partner for theology and culture at Praxis, explore how AI may weaken our minds, distort relationships, and tempt us to outsource the very experiences that form wisdom, wonder, and sacrificial love. From chatbot “companionship” and AI-assisted grief to medicine, spiritual counsel, and the loss of silence, Curtis and Andy ask whether convenience is quietly creating a kind of cognitive metabolic syndrome and what we can do about it.

00:01:22 – Introduction to AI’s Impact on Our Minds.

00:04:35 – Lessons from Social Media’s Evolution

00:08:26 – Cognitive Metabolic Syndrome

00:18:45 – What Is the Purpose of the Human Mind?

00:25:23 – Wonder vs. Power

00:26:49 – Love Requires Suffering and Friction

00:34:38 – The Limits of AI in Healthcare

00:40:53 – The Danger of Outsourcing Life’s Hardships

00:51:23 – The Loss of Silence

00:58:11 – The AI Forced Conversation on Being Human

01:01:03 – Practical Ways to Protect Our Humanity

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Mentioned in This Episode:

• Andrew Briggs and Roger Wagner’s The Penultimate Curiosity: How Science Swims in the Slipstream of Ultimate Questions
• Thomas Fuchs’ In Defence of the Human Being 
• Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables
• Tristan Harris on How AI Worsens Ills Caused by Social Media (The Economist)
• Explore the work of The Future of Life Institute
• Emma Pearson’s I’d Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast (The Atlantic)

Scriptures:

• Mark 12:30–31 (ESV)
• Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV)
• Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)
• Luke 10:27 (ESV)

More From Andy Crouch:

• Check out Andy’s website
• Check out Andy’s work at Praxis
• Read Andy’s book: The Life We’re Looking For
• Read Andy’s book The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place 

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.